The specific aim of this project is to expand and continue the Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program to improve the academic competitiveness of the J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (JSR) underrepresented minority students and to facilitate their transition into biomedical research programs. The Program Directors will select new, additional, minority students that show an interest and talent in science to join the program. Students will pursue Associate in Science degrees at JSR while being mentored and paid for working in research laboratories at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Students that graduate from JSR will transfer to VCU to pursue Bachelor of Science degrees while becoming active in the VCU Undergraduate Research Program. In addition, this application provides for cross-institutional activities between involved faculty members from JSR and VCU and their students. These activities will include seminars, team-taught courses, and independent research projects. The overall goal is to insure that our NIH Bridge Students and prepared for future studies in the biomedical research area. The collaborations between JSR and VCU students and faculty will make the NIH students feel more comfortable about transferring to VCU and pursuing careers in biomedical research. The broad, long term objectives of this JSR-VCU Bridges Program are: 1) to increase the number of underrepresented minority biomedical researchers; 2) to increase awareness in the minority community about career opportunities in science and specifically about research careers; 3) to increase the admission, retention and graduation rate of underrepresented minority science students at VCU; 4) to identify JSR as a focal point where career paths in science can be initiated by minority students; 5) to strengthen collaborations between JSR and VCU and ultimately strengthen the service of JSR and VCU to the community of the City of Richmond.